Saddam in his own words: 'Our missiles do not break the rules'

This is an extract from Dan Rather's CBS interview with Saddam Hussein

Dan Rather: Mr President, do you intend to destroy the al-Samoud missiles that the United Nations prohibits? Will you destroy those missiles?

Saddam Hussein: We have committed ourselves to (the UN) Resolution. We're implementing that resolution in accordance with what the United Nations wants us to do. It is on this basis that we have conducted ourselves, and it is on this basis that we will continue to behave. As you know, it is allowed to produce land-land rockets, with a range of up to 150 kilometres. And we are committed to that.

DR: I want to make sure that I understand, Mr President. So, you do not intend to destroy these missiles?

SH: We do not have missiles that go beyond the prescribed ranges, by the ... UN. The inspection teams have been here. They have inspected every place. And if there is a question to that effect, I think the question should be addressed to them ... There are no missiles that are contrary to the prescription of the United Nations in Iraq.

DR: Mr President, do you expect to be attacked by an American-led invasion?

SH: We hope that the attack will not take place. But we are bracing ourselves to meet such an attack, to face it ...

DR: Are you afraid of being killed or captured?

SH: Whatever Allah decides. We are believers. We believe in what he decides.When we were young, ordinary people in ... Iraq ... people did not even find – many people did not even find shoes to wear ... But in those days, we did not ask the question whether we were going to live or die, but we simply relied on Allah and we moved ahead ...

DR: Mr President, Americans are very much concerned about anyone's connections to Osama bin Laden. Do you have, have you had, any connections to al-Qa'ida and Osama bin Laden?

SH: Is this the basis of the anxiety in the minds of US officials? Or is it the basis of anxiety in the minds of the people of the United States?

DR: Mr President, I believe I can report accurately that it's a major concern in the minds of the people in the United States.

SH: This issue, this topic did not appear ... amongst the concerns of US officials until recently. ... We have never had any relationship with Mr Osama bin Laden, and Iraq has never had any relationship with al-Qa'ida.

DR: Do you or do you not agree, in principle, with the attack of 9/11?

SH: Let me tell you absolutely clearly: Our principles are not just national or pan-Arab, but they are humane principles. We believe in humanity ... But we believe, in accordance with what Allah has – the Almighty, God Almighty – has taught us ... that there must be a law governing humanity and governing relations in humanity, that there should not be an aggressor while others are silent about the aggression.

DR: Mr President, have you been offered asylum anywhere? And would you, under any circumstances, consider going into exile to save your people death and destruction?

SH: Our position is basic. We have been born in Iraq. This is part of a glorious nation, a great Arab nation, and we have lived here. ... This is why we will also die in Iraq. I believe that whoever asks Saddam to – or offers Saddam asylum in his own country – is, in fact, a person without morals, because he will be directing an insult to the Iraqi people.

DR: You mentioned the Gulf War. You fought the father, George Bush the first. He and the forces he led prevailed on the battlefield. Now you face the son, who has an even greater, even more modern, even more lethal military force.Why would you think that you could prevail this time on the battlefield? Or do you?

SH: It is our duty, it is our responsibility to defend our country, and we are not going to succumb, neither to the United States nor to any other power. Even if this power is multiplied by whatever amount or size more than it is now,because defeat comes only from God Almighty. In 1991 Iraq was not defeated. In fact, our Army withdrew from Kuwait according to a decision taken by us. And, consequently, Iraq was not defeated.

DR: Mr President, respectfully ... I'm asking you to explain what you mean that you were not defeated in the war, because I can report to you with accuracy that, overwhelmingly, the American people believe that that was a resounding defeat for you and for Iraq.

SH: Let me answer this. Why did Mr Bush, the father, when he was President of the United States, why did he repeat his attacks on us if we had been defeated? Totally defeated? When there is a military conflict, there is forward and backward ... When there is military conflict, you push forward and you can retreat. So we withdrew our forces inside Iraq...And we were not defeated ... The United States can destroy – but the question is, why should America destroy? And why should America generate hostility – the hostility of the world – towards the United States?

DR: Mr President, Vice- President Cheney, Vice- President Richard Cheney of the United States says that if and when an American-led army comes into Iraq, it will be greeted with music. It will be treated as an army of liberation. If Americans are not to believe that, why should they not believe that?

SH: I believe absolutely, that there's no Iraqi whatsoever, who will welcome any American, if that American individual is here in the – in this capacity, as an occupation force. Or as an occupier.

DR: I wanted to ask again, so I'm perfectly clear – you do not intend to destroy your al-Samoud missiles. I mean, the missiles that Hans Blix says that he wants a commitment from you that they will be destroyed.

SH: No violation has been made by Iraq to anything decided by the United Nations. If what is meant here is to review ... the resolutions of the Security Council, the resolutions that stipulate that Iraq is allowed to produce missiles with a range of kilometres – if the intention is to rewrite those resolutions, then we will be entering a new framework.

DR: If there is an invasion, will you set fire to the oilfields? Will you blow the dams? Or your reservoirs of water, to resist the invasion?

SH: Iraq does not burn its wealth. And it does not destroy its dams ... Iraq does not destroy its dams or its oil.

DR: Mr President, what is the most important thing you want the American people to understand at this important juncture of history?

SH:If the American people would like to know the facts for what they are, or as they are, through a direct dialogue, then I am ready to conduct a direct dialogue with the President of the United States, President Bush, on television. ...And this will be in front of all people, and on television, in a direct, uncensored, honest manner. In front of, as I said, everyone.

DR: Are you speaking about a debate? This, this is new. You, you are suggesting, you are saying, that you are willing, you're urging a debate with President Bush? On television?

SH: Yes. That's my proposal.

DR: This is not a joke.

SH: No, this is something proposed in earnest. This is proposed out of my respect for the public opinion of the United States.

DR: Where would this debate take place, that you imagine – what would be the venue?

SH: It will be in a place, as President of the United States, and Saddam Hussein will be in a place as President of Iraq. And then the debate can be conducted through satellite.

DR: Oh. So, a satellite television debate. Live ...

Not so long ago, you were clearly hailed throughout the Arab world as the great Arab Avenger. Are you still relevant on the Arab street? Or has Osama bin Laden made you irrelevant?

SH: If you, in the United States, see Osama bin Laden as a champion then we are not jealous of him. If our nation sees him as a champion, we are not jealous of him. Jealousy is not a trait of man. Jealousy is a trait maybe of women.

DR: Mr President, you've been so patient with your time.

SH: I'm happy. And I hope to see you in the future. I hope –

DR: I would like to see you in the future, Mr President.